It can be fun to have an esoteric coinage system, but this can slow down the game.

It can be fun to have an esoteric coinage system, but this can slow down the game. In my Yoon Suin Campaign, I resolved this problem by using a unit of account - the rupee. The rupee coin itself is rarely seen, but it's used to measure the value of several things. So a party could be offered a 10 000 rupee reward to undertake a dangerous mission, for example. The PCs know what value this represents, but they will probably paid in a mixture of gold and silver pieces.

The actual coins can stay in the background, until they become important because of logistics or as a plot element - for example, the party is investigating an anna forging operation.

All the players need to know is 1 gp = 5 rupee = 10 sp = 320 cp

The actual values:

1 mohur = 3 gp = 15 rupee
1 gp = 5 rupee = 10 sp
1 rupee = 2 silver pieces = 16 anna = 64 paise = 192 pie
1 sp = 8 anna = 32 paise = 96 pie
1 anna = 4 paise = 12 pie
1 paise = 3 pie


The coins

The Mohur is a large, rare gold coin minted in the Yellow city. Being paid in actual Mohur is a privilege, and people prefer hoarding them than spending them, keeping them out of circulation

The "standard" gold piece is a small piece of gold, used by merchants and the wealthy, mostly minted in the oligarchies and the hundred kingdoms. (3.84 g)

The rupee is a large silver coin, and being paid in actual rupee has some prestige. Like the Mohur, it is frequently hoarded. A rupee/day is the "minimum wage" - what a free laborer can expect to get, although they probably will be paid in a mixture of silver pieces, annas and paises.

The "standard" silver piece covers a large array of mediumish silver coins that have over the centuries being somewhat standardized to be worth half a rupee. The half-rupee coin itself is uncommon but isn't seen as special. A lot come from the hundred kingdoms, the oligarchies and the Mountains of the Moon. These coins are in large circulations 5.4 g on average

The Anna is a very small silver piece, minted mostly in the Yellow City. It's frequently debased and forged, and as such the anna is not accepted for large sums and is seen as suspicious. "Being paid in annas" is a euphemism for doing unsavory deeds for money. However there are many in circulation. (0.675 g)

The Paise is a large copper coin with a hole in the middle. In the Yellow City, the majority (easily recognized due to the square hole) are imported by merchants from far away Xian. This is a coin frequently used by the poor but unlike the Anna it is seen as "honest money" and is in very large circulation.

The Pie is a hardened lead coin of little value, seen as fit for children and beggars, and is minted in the Yellow city. However it is rarely counterfeited (why bother?) and can still buy you a cup of tea, so it's worth something :)

Another form of "currency" is the tea brick. A tea brick of "the third quality" (the most common) is worth 4 rupee and weights slightly over a pound.

Lastly, there are the is the silver and gold talents, an enormous mass of precious metal (26 kg!) that only the ultra wealthy deal with... (1 gold talent = 6771 gp) 1 silver talent = 2 407 rupee, about 2 476 cm3)


https://slugsandsilver.blogspot.com/2018/07/coinage-its-complicated.html